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Synopsis
Superior BBC adaptation of Iain Banks's acclaimed and darkly comic novel in which teenager Prentice sets out to uncover the truth behind the mysterious and unresolved disappearance of his Uncle Rory. He finds that the truth lies under a tapestry of dark secrets shrouding his own family's past.
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
One of the best adaptations of a novel that I have ever seen. The 1996 BBC recreation for the small screen of Iain Banks' darkly brilliant gothic work really stands up superbly 12 years on.
Featuring a strong cast including Bill Paterson, Peter Capaldi and Joe McFadden as the male half of the McHoan clan who live on the beautiful Argyll coast in their rambling country house.The storyline focuses on missing uncle Rory who never returned from a sojourn abroad and the rivalry between the writer brothers (Paterson and Capaldi) mainly instigated by elder brother Kenneth (Paterson) who never quite forgives younger Rory (Capaldi) for getting into print first before he disappears into the wide blue yonder. The McHoan sister is married to the charming but sinister 'Uncle Fergus' who lives in baronial splendor in his stunning castle on the shores of a mysterious dark loch.
Death is never far away from the central character, young Prentice (McFadden)..Kenneth's son who witnesses a series of family and friends die in usually tragic circumstances.
Sensitive soul that he is.He can't accept his fiercely atheistic father's brutal philosophical acceptance of these deaths and seeks answers.Just why does everyone he loves keep dying ? On top of this Prentice has to suffer further trauma as he watches older smarter brother played by Dougray Scott make a name for himself as a stand up comic and steal the girl of his wildest dreams-Verity- from under his nose !
Aided by the beautiful Ash his platonic girlfriend who happens to be a wizz with computers, Prentice gradually peels away the multitude of dark layers hiding the truth.
Beautifully,filmed acted and set.The whole 4 part series builds up to a powerful conclusion !
I had the pleasure of staying at Ardpatrick House on the Knapdale Peninsular where much of the Crow Road was filmed. Ardpatrick stood in for the McHoan family home. It was a wonderful experience and certainly enhanced a memorable drama experience.
Featuring a strong cast including Bill Paterson, Peter Capaldi and Joe McFadden as the male half of the McHoan clan who live on the beautiful Argyll coast in their rambling country house.The storyline focuses on missing uncle Rory who never returned from a sojourn abroad and the rivalry between the writer brothers (Paterson and Capaldi) mainly instigated by elder brother Kenneth (Paterson) who never quite forgives younger Rory (Capaldi) for getting into print first before he disappears into the wide blue yonder. The McHoan sister is married to the charming but sinister 'Uncle Fergus' who lives in baronial splendor in his stunning castle on the shores of a mysterious dark loch.
Death is never far away from the central character, young Prentice (McFadden)..Kenneth's son who witnesses a series of family and friends die in usually tragic circumstances.
Sensitive soul that he is.He can't accept his fiercely atheistic father's brutal philosophical acceptance of these deaths and seeks answers.Just why does everyone he loves keep dying ? On top of this Prentice has to suffer further trauma as he watches older smarter brother played by Dougray Scott make a name for himself as a stand up comic and steal the girl of his wildest dreams-Verity- from under his nose !
Aided by the beautiful Ash his platonic girlfriend who happens to be a wizz with computers, Prentice gradually peels away the multitude of dark layers hiding the truth.
Beautifully,filmed acted and set.The whole 4 part series builds up to a powerful conclusion !
I had the pleasure of staying at Ardpatrick House on the Knapdale Peninsular where much of the Crow Road was filmed. Ardpatrick stood in for the McHoan family home. It was a wonderful experience and certainly enhanced a memorable drama experience.
61 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
A pity that the amazon synopsis for this title is so short. The crow road screened in the autumm of '96 to much critical aclaim and launched Dougray Scott's career as he has since played the baddie in mission impossible 2. This drama is totally realistic, I was 20 when this was screened - the same age as many of the characters in it, and they struck me as being exactly of a same personality as my own friends in the west of scotland and Argyll. It's nice being from the same area as where this drama is set. I can tell you that without a doubt, if you want to know what young people in the west of scotland are really like, then watch this - not some stupid stereotyped characters like the school janitor from "the simpsons"!!
Seriously though, you will never see a similar drama anywhere near as good as this one. Please do watch it, or read the book & watch it!
Seriously though, you will never see a similar drama anywhere near as good as this one. Please do watch it, or read the book & watch it!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Crow Road is essentially a story about growing up. But while most productions on this theme tend to be mawkish, the Crow Road is a brilliantly suspenseful, moving drama mixing elements of murder mystery, comedy, tragedy, love, sex and faith. The series comprises 4 hour-long episodes that follow Prentice McHoan, a young lad brought up by his father to question things in life. So when friends and family start dying, his older brother steals off with the woman of his dreams, and his beloved Uncle Rory goes missing, Prentice starts casting round for answers. Is there some spiritual meaning to all these people leaving him or is there a more human, and sinister, reason? Aided by his old friend Ashley Watt and imaginary visitations from the missing Rory, Prentice tries to solve the McHoan mysteries.
The acting here is superb, particularly from Bill Paterson. The story skips deftly between the present, Prentice's younger days, and even the childhood of his father and uncles, allowing the relationships between the characters to be fully realised and making it all the more heartbreaking when they break down. The extras don't amount to much unfortunately, with the audio commentary from the director and other crew a bit dry. Some contribution here from the charismatic cast (including such faces as Peter Capaldi, and even Supergran!) would have helped. Quite how this TV series compares with the book it's based on I don't know as I haven't read it but here's the author Iain Banks' opinion: "annoyingly better than the book in far too many places". There you go. Do watch this.
The acting here is superb, particularly from Bill Paterson. The story skips deftly between the present, Prentice's younger days, and even the childhood of his father and uncles, allowing the relationships between the characters to be fully realised and making it all the more heartbreaking when they break down. The extras don't amount to much unfortunately, with the audio commentary from the director and other crew a bit dry. Some contribution here from the charismatic cast (including such faces as Peter Capaldi, and even Supergran!) would have helped. Quite how this TV series compares with the book it's based on I don't know as I haven't read it but here's the author Iain Banks' opinion: "annoyingly better than the book in far too many places". There you go. Do watch this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The crow road
A fantastic retelling of Iain Banks novel of the same name. Wonderfull acting, superb scenery, great drama and suspense. I was captivated throughout the whole series. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jock8272
Great TV but poor product presentation
This TV series is great viewing. There's a bit of everything to please all: humour, sex, drama, sex, suspense, romance, action, sex... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Henry Higgins
the crow road
This is one of the most intelligent films garnered from print that I have ever seen. I thoroughly recommend this DVD.
Published 11 months ago by dahvid
peejaabee review
a great dvd,the content of this story is very layered and thrilling with lots of suspense also atmosphere.excellent acting by all.
Published 19 months ago by P. J. Bolton
Great plot, great 4 hour series
The Crow Road is Scottish drama at its best. Prentice McHoan is part of a jinxed, middle class, rural family who suffer a series of unfortunate incidents including a car crash, a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by LXIX
Even better than the book!
Superb adaptation of Ian Banks' novel - even better (as Banks himself has acknowledged) than the book, in ways I won't spoil by specifying here. Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2009 by Alan Hurst
Blast from the past
Having thoroughly enjoyed the television series many years ago, we decided to wallow in nostalgia. It stood up very well to the test of time and occupied two rainy afternoons very... Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2009 by Mrs. B. Henderson
Exactly as it says on the tin
It was exactly what I was after. Missed a couple of episodes when it was rerun on TV recently. There are other DVDs of it about for varying prices but this was just fine. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2009 by Ms. Karina M. Townsend
The story of Rory
This is a very watchable and enjoyable adaptation of Iain Banks excellent novel. Set in the Scottish highlands, it centres on student Prentice McHoan (Joseph McFadden) and his... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2009 by tallpete33
Better than the book
Iain Banks is an excellent writer, but this adaptation manages the rare trick of surpassing the book. Read more
Published on 1 July 2009 by P. J. Keane
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